Tell HN: My early access eBook over iOS made $120k in 1 year

Hey HN - I mostly stay in the shadows here, but for the one year anniversary of my first (ebook project)[1] I figured I'd write a blurb in case it's interesting to anyone. I'm terrible at launching things, and take years to ship my own apps. After my last app was acquired, I wanted to fulfill a "moon shot" goal of mine - write a book in any form. I settled on adapting one of my more popular [blog posts][2] that I keep updated through each version of iOS into a five book series (one for each topic of accessibility, design, UX, APIs and a catch all bonus one). So far it has sold 1,534 copies and has made over $124,000. Now that things have settled, it makes about $2k a month on average. I learned from my own launch history and decide to launch it in "early access", otherwise I'd never finish it. Launching it went great and was a day I'll never forget, as to that point - I had never made close to that much money in one day. CONS: It's not all rainbows and sunshine though. I used to read posts like this and my heart rate would shoot up, thinking "What the heck - I could do that too!" and make some good money. While it is true that the project has been great for me financially (I have a stay at home wife and three kids), honestly life is not any different. I just save most of it, spend it on the 1,000 school activities my kids have or whatever life throws at me. I didn't make any splurge purchase. I've also realized the real, grating reality of opportunity cost. At the one year mark, this book series is only half way done. I can't put into words how much I miss making software, because now - all I do is write. That has been my main takeaway through all of this - your time is valuable, and I cosigned a ton of mine away the moment I decided to embark on this. PROS: On the positive side, I get messages from people starting out on iOS and veterans alike who are really enjoying the books. It's hard to put into words how motivating that is, to fell like you are doing a tiny little thing that somewhat matters to some people. I also love teaching and writing, so the project does appeal to me - but I've learned I need a better balance. When I shipped apps, all I wanted to do was write. Now, the opposite is true. Anyways, if you are considering launching a digital downloads type of product, I'd say go for it. Tech-wise, it was trivial to get started: Gumroad for sales Netlify for deploys Made the site from scratch using Tailwind Ulysses to write I think in a world where there is a lot of "grifting" going on with courses, ebooks, etc - you can actually stand out if you stick to your word and show authenticity. For example, I promised updates every two weeks - and I've stuck to that, a year in. TL'DR: Launching your own thing and making money is neat, but at the end of the day life doesn't really change at all. Consider your time investments. Try to truly help people. Happy to answer any questions if you have any. [1]: https://www.bestinclassiosapp.com https://www.bestinclassiosapp.com [2]: https://www.swiftjectivec.com/a-best-in-class-app/ https://www.swiftjectivec.com/a-best-in-class-app/